Former China Rail Minister Gets Suspended Death Sentence - Xinhua

China gave former railways minister Liu Zhijun a suspended death sentence for bribery and abuse of power, the official Xinhua news agency said on Monday, in a case seen as a test of President Xi Jinping's resolve to crack down on pervasive graft.

China gave former railways minister Liu Zhijun a suspended death sentence for bribery and abuse of power, the official Xinhua news agency said on Monday, in a case seen as a test of President Xi Jinping's resolve to crack down on pervasive graft.

Liu was formally charged in April with abuse of power, taking bribes and malpractice, conduct that led to "huge losses" of public assets, state media said when his trial began at a Beijing courthouse under heavy security in early June.

Liu was sacked in February last year and later expelled from the Communist Party. He had successfully resisted a merger with the Ministry of Transport six years ago, but the government announced in March that the two ministries would be merged.